I voted for the usual races of human, elf, dwarf, halfling, gnome plus the half-slf and half-orc. I liked the lore behind the dragonborn and tiefling, so I added them. I also think shifter/changeling because they are interesting and can fit into just about any world setting.

The others shouldn't be core races though some like lycanthropes and their therianthrope kin should be easily applied templates. That way I can finally remake my old weretiger wizard without getting totally hosed by the rules.

Classic 4 because duh.Gnome because another small race is good, plus lots of nostalgia, traction, and plenty of potential sub-races (DL style tinker gnomes, 4e style fey gnomes, etc)Half-Orc because its good to have a smashy race.Half-Elf because Tanis and Aragorn.Tiefling because I love PlaneScape, and I like the way 4e handled themDragonborn because every virtually every new player I know asks for a dragonman/half-dragon/scaley-dude.Warforged because I think they are the best "new" race in a long time, and the "magic robot" trope can be mined pretty deep.

That's 10, a good solid number for a PHB.

Essentials zigged, when I wanted to continue zagging.
Roll dice, not cars.

Voted for the 3.5 ones + Tiefling and Dragonborn. On a good day I would consider aasimar as they go hand in hand with tieflings and since removing tieflings is a silly idea I could get behind them as core race.

I'd like to see every edition's PHB1 races be available from the get-go. However, I'd also like to see a bunch of variant races get abbreviated, "player race stats" in the Monster Manual (similar to the blurbs for some 3.5 critters in the MM or the appendix in the 4E MM).

So, goblins and minotaurs and such might not be in the PHB, but they would be playable at launch, with perhaps more details published a little later.

I'd like to see every edition's PHB1 races be available from the get-go. However, I'd also like to see a bunch of variant races get abbreviated, "player race stats" in the Monster Manual (similar to the blurbs for some 3.5 critters in the MM or the appendix in the 4E MM).

So, goblins and minotaurs and such might not be in the PHB, but they would be playable at launch, with perhaps more details published a little later.

+1Kobolds should be playable from day 1. Hopefully without the wierdness of, for example, PCs being the only kobolds without darkvision. They needn't be in PHB though. And I'm sure RPGA will hold to the tradition that kobolds only become playable as a sign of the end times for any given campaign. :P

Given your description of the question as the playable races in the first release, I went with humans, dwarves, elves, halflings, half-orc, half-elf, tieflings, aasimar, and dragonborn. With one more thrown in to round out the set, where they look through the oddball races they have and pick the one that plays the best in Next, I really don't care which one but I would like something else strange and non-traditional to go with dragonborn.

Humans, elves, dwarves, and halflings because well, duh. Half-elves because they are highly traditional in both literature and D&D, and they had a very interesting mechanical implementation in 4e that I would love to see carried over. Tieflings and aasimar because they make a good pairing and tieflings are among the most popular races. Half-orc is nice for covering some brutal race space, for providing a straightforward strength race and covering a lot of monsterous race concepts in campaigns too low magic or low fantasy for the more exotic races. Dragonborn because they are an excellent 4e addition to the game, covering a lot of concept space for a really non-human race. Dragonborn should come with both breath weapon and non-breath weapon options so that they can easily be reskinned to cover reptilian in general.

I wouldn't have any problem with more races, but doubt there will be enough space in the first PHB to include much more. Fewer would be a problem though, because either you end up cutting something traditional and popular or your really limiting the racial range to classic Tolkien fantasy, neither of which is a good solution. I expect the second PHB, whatever it gets called, to include a lot more races and classes that just didn't make the cut for the first.

Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, Human.Also, Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Gnome, Dragonborn, Aasimar, & Teiflling.I'd be in favor of Shifter and Warforged, beyond Eberron fandom, Shifter could fit any world really and Warforged are a cool race, not for everyone, but unique and interesting.Dragon is totally for a future Council of Wyrms release. Illithid is just no. The other ones would be interesting options to be offered in a splatbooks. A goblinoids verses the normal humanoids would make a neat game, though.

I want NO core basis for races, so to speak. Going off the current trend in DDN, core is dying and may it be buried six feet under... solid concrete. Again, I'm pushing for my concept (from blog post) of everything exists, albeit in a more generic form. So, allow as much as possible, but keep the fluff basic with no flashy titles. Save that for campaign settings (and faux-settings/adventure backdrops). One thing I forgot on my post, give inspirations and types of settings/moods that each of the races would best suit for added ideas.

An undead spectre occasionally returning to remind the fandom of its grim existence.

I'm going to go with the general sentiment that any race that's been in a PHB1 should be in the PHB1 for Next. However, I also wouldn't mind seeing new things in there too. Specifically, Aasimar would be fine to go along with Tiefling, and Warforged are an incredibly popular race in general.

Why, yes, as a matter of fact I am the Unfailing Arbiter of All That Is Good Design (Even More So Than The Actual Developers) TM
Speaking of things that were badly designed, please check out this thread for my Minotaur fix. What have the critics said, you ask?
"If any of my players ask to play a Minotaur, I'm definitely offering this as an alternative to the official version." - EmpactWB
"If I ever feel like playing a Minotaur I'll know where to look!" - Undrave
"WoTC if you are reading this - please take this guy's advice." - Ferol_Debtor_of_Torm
"Really full of win. A minotaur that is actually attractive for more than just melee classes." - Cpt_Micha
Also, check out my recent GENASI variant! If you've ever wished that your Fire Genasi could actually set stuff on fire, your Water Genasi could actually swim, or your Wind Genasi could at least glide, then look no further.
Finally, check out my OPTIONS FOR EVERYONE article, an effort to give unique support to the races that WotC keeps forgetting about. Includes new racial feature options for the Changeling, Deva, Githzerai, Gnoll, Gnome, Goliath, Half-Orc, Kalashtar, Minotaur, Shadar-Kai, Thri-Kreen, Warforged and more!

Interesting Poll, but do you mean "Core" as in assumed in all games, or "Core" as in the PHB? Considering the layout of the races, they could easily have a dozen or two races in the PHB without taking up too much space. I suspect the four we've seen in the packets will be Core, with many races being "Standard" (assumed for use in Official Games). Some Races should be included that aren't approprate for all settings (Thri-kreen, Warforged, Genasi, etc.) to make those setting easily playable without having to wait for a Campaign Setting book.

Interesting Poll, but do you mean "Core" as in assumed in all games, or "Core" as in the PHB?

Nobody ever means "core" as in assumed in all games. There has never been and will never be any race ever that is assumed to be in all games.

Why, yes, as a matter of fact I am the Unfailing Arbiter of All That Is Good Design (Even More So Than The Actual Developers) TM
Speaking of things that were badly designed, please check out this thread for my Minotaur fix. What have the critics said, you ask?
"If any of my players ask to play a Minotaur, I'm definitely offering this as an alternative to the official version." - EmpactWB
"If I ever feel like playing a Minotaur I'll know where to look!" - Undrave
"WoTC if you are reading this - please take this guy's advice." - Ferol_Debtor_of_Torm
"Really full of win. A minotaur that is actually attractive for more than just melee classes." - Cpt_Micha
Also, check out my recent GENASI variant! If you've ever wished that your Fire Genasi could actually set stuff on fire, your Water Genasi could actually swim, or your Wind Genasi could at least glide, then look no further.
Finally, check out my OPTIONS FOR EVERYONE article, an effort to give unique support to the races that WotC keeps forgetting about. Includes new racial feature options for the Changeling, Deva, Githzerai, Gnoll, Gnome, Goliath, Half-Orc, Kalashtar, Minotaur, Shadar-Kai, Thri-Kreen, Warforged and more!

I'm split between going a more Tolkien world, and going a 4th edition world (I believe essentials didn't make a difference in races). A world without humans... would have to be some alien world, I guess most fantasy realms I think of have some men in it, if only one man, usually a protagonist. I guess you could make one like that Crimson. After seeing the Hobbit, it made me ponder Goblins and Orcs and Gnomes as the rest of the playable races besides what’s already in the player's hands now.

I say have all of the 3e and 4e races available at launch. All of the pre-3e races are included in 3e, so you really just have to take all the 3e races and add Tieflings, Dragonborn, and Eladrin to have every at race available at the launch of every edition. I'd love to see a lot of other races as well, particularly merfolk as I love underwater adventures and HATE aquatic elves, but I can wait a while for that stuff if I have tieflings to play with.

There are a great many problems that can be circumvented by players and DMs having a mature discussion about what the game is going to be like before they ever sit down together to play.

The answer really does lie in more options, not in confining and segregating certain options.

You really shouldn't speak for others. You can't hear what someone else is saying when you try to put your words in their mouth.

I say have all of the 3e and 4e races available at launch. All of the pre-3e races are included in 3e, so you really just have to take all the 3e races and add Tieflings, Dragonborn, and Eladrin to have every at race available at the launch of every edition. I'd love to see a lot of other races as well, particularly merfolk as I love underwater adventures and HATE aquatic elves, but I can wait a while for that stuff if I have tieflings to play with.

I say have all of the 3e and 4e races available at launch. All of the pre-3e races are included in 3e, so you really just have to take all the 3e races and add Tieflings, Dragonborn, and Eladrin to have every at race available at the launch of every edition. I'd love to see a lot of other races as well, particularly merfolk as I love underwater adventures and HATE aquatic elves, but I can wait a while for that stuff if I have tieflings to play with.

I'd love to see a lot of other races as well, particularly merfolk as I love underwater adventures and HATE aquatic elves...

I completely agree. It's actually really surprising to me that they haven't ever to my knowledge created a Merfolk race that was actually playable in non-aquatic campaigns. It's not like it would be hard to. Just give them "fins to feet" as an at-will racial power / spell-like ability / whatever, and you're good, especially saying not all member of the race have it but those that are appropriate to be playable probably do.

Why, yes, as a matter of fact I am the Unfailing Arbiter of All That Is Good Design (Even More So Than The Actual Developers) TM
Speaking of things that were badly designed, please check out this thread for my Minotaur fix. What have the critics said, you ask?
"If any of my players ask to play a Minotaur, I'm definitely offering this as an alternative to the official version." - EmpactWB
"If I ever feel like playing a Minotaur I'll know where to look!" - Undrave
"WoTC if you are reading this - please take this guy's advice." - Ferol_Debtor_of_Torm
"Really full of win. A minotaur that is actually attractive for more than just melee classes." - Cpt_Micha
Also, check out my recent GENASI variant! If you've ever wished that your Fire Genasi could actually set stuff on fire, your Water Genasi could actually swim, or your Wind Genasi could at least glide, then look no further.
Finally, check out my OPTIONS FOR EVERYONE article, an effort to give unique support to the races that WotC keeps forgetting about. Includes new racial feature options for the Changeling, Deva, Githzerai, Gnoll, Gnome, Goliath, Half-Orc, Kalashtar, Minotaur, Shadar-Kai, Thri-Kreen, Warforged and more!

I want all the PHB1 races from 3.x and 4th to make the cut (although i'm fine with eladrin going back to being high elves and 'elves' being wood elves), plus I would like to see the half-ogre make a comeback, and aasimar since they kind of complete the tiefling (in fact they could even be presented as sub-races of 'planetouched' like in some early versions). I didn't vote for a few races I like, such as minotaur, warforged and shifter because they seem like good candidates for an early expansion. I also wouldn't mind seeing some of the funky races from Spelljammer reappear, especially the xixchil... i love those guys!

I'd love to see a lot of other races as well, particularly merfolk as I love underwater adventures and HATE aquatic elves...

I completely agree. It's actually really surprising to me that they haven't ever to my knowledge created a Merfolk race that was actually playable in non-aquatic campaigns. It's not like it would be hard to. Just give them "fins to feet" as an at-will racial power / spell-like ability / whatever, and you're good, especially saying not all member of the race have it but those that are appropriate to be playable probably do.

I honestly have no idea what their plan is. :P I doubt there is enough concept space to have both high elves and eladrin though (and unless I'm mistaken, high elves in FR in 4e were mechanically represented as eladrin).

If they bring back Dragonborn, I want them to have tails. Pretty please. Dragons without tails are like Illithids without tentacles and Minotaurs without horns. At least give an option of a tail instead of a breath weapon.

I'm tired of Half-Elves. Seriously. This isn't a race. Some campaign settings have tried to give them some kind of unique culture, but when your kids cease to be Half-Elves the minute you decide to have children with anyone who isn't a Half-Elf*, what kind of culture identity can you have?

It gets worse when you consider that Half-Elves raised by Elves, Half-Elves raised by Humans, Half-Drow, Half-Eladrin, Half-Sun Elves...etc, etc...all have the same racial package!**

*Yes, I know, supposedly a Half-Elf who marries an Elf will have Half-Elf babies as well. How that works is beyond me.

**Oh I'm sure there's rules out there for Half-Drow, but it's never been in any commonly available sourcebook that I owned- and I own a lot of books for all versions of D&D.

If there's going to Half-races in a game, then they shouldn't be core. That raises too many questions about why certain races are genetically compatible and others aren't (or why Elves even want to have kids with Humans in the first place).

"You can always judge a man by the quality of his enemies." -The Doctor, Remembrance of the Daleks